Learning the patterns shown on means you can now work out the forms of most -er verbs. A few verbs, though, involve a small spelling change. This is usually to do with how a word is pronounced. In the tables below the form(s) with the irregular spelling is/are underlined.

1Verbs ending in -cer

With verbs such as lancer (meaning to throw), which end in -cer, c becomes ç before an a or an o. This is so the letter c is still pronounced as in the English word ice.

Pronoun

Example verb:lancer

je

lance

tu

lances

ilelleon

lance

nous

lançons

vous

lancez

ilselles

lancent

2Verbs ending in -ger

With verbs such as manger (meaning to eat), which end in -ger, g becomes ge before an a or an o. This is so the letter g is still pronounced like the s in the English word leisure.

Pronoun

Example verb:manger

je

mange

tu

manges

ilelleon

mange

nous

mangeons

vous

mangez

ilselles

mangent

3Verbs ending in -eler

With verbs such as appeler (meaning to call), which end in -eler, the l doubles before -e, -es and -ent. The double consonant (ll) affects the pronunciation of the word. In appeler, the first e sounds like the vowel sound at the end of the English word teacher, but in appelle the first e sounds like the one in the English word pet.

Verbs like this are sometimes called ‘1, 2, 3, 6 verbs’ because they change in the first person singular (je), second person singular (tu), and third person singular and plural (il/elle/on and ils/elles).

4Verbs ending in -eter

With verbs such as jeter (meaning to throw), which end in -eter, the t doubles before -e, -es and -ent. The double consonant (tt) affects the pronunciation of the word. In jeter, the first e sounds like the vowel sound at the end of the English word teacher, but in jette the first e sounds like the one in the English word pet.

Pronoun

Example verb:jeter

je

jette

tu

jettes

ilelleon

jette

nous

jetons

vous

jetez

ilselles

jettent

The exceptions to this rule include acheter (meaning to buy), which changes in the same way as lever.

Verbs like this are sometimes called ‘1, 2, 3, 6 verbs’.

5 Verbs ending in -yer

With verbs such as nettoyer (meaning to clean), which end in -yer, the y changes to i before -e, -es and -ent.

Pronoun

Example verb: nettoyer

je

nettoie

tu

nettoies

ilelleon

nettoie

nous

nettoyons

vous

nettoyez

ilselles

nettoient

Verbs ending in -ayer, such as payer (meaning to pay) and essayer (meaning to try), can be spelled with either a y or an i. So je paie and je paye, for example, are both correct.

Verbs like this are sometimes called ‘1, 2, 3, 6 verbs’.

6Changes involving accents

With verbs such as lever (meaning to raise), peser (meaning to weigh) and acheter (meaning to buy), e changes to è before the consonant + -e, -es and -ent. The accent changes the pronunciation too. In lever the first e sounds like the vowel sound at the end of the English word teacher, but in lève and so on the first e sounds like the one in the English word pet.

Pronoun

Example verb:lever

je

lève

tu

lèves

ilelleon

lève

nous

levons

vous

levez

ilselles

lèvent

With verbs such as espérer (meaning to hope), régler (meaning to adjust) and préférer (meaning to prefer), é changes to è before the consonant + -e, -es and -ent.

Pronoun

Example verb:espérer

j’

espère

tu

espères

ilelleon

espère

nous

espérons

vous

espérez

ilselles

espèrent

Verbs like this are sometimes called ‘1, 2, 3, 6 verbs’.

Key points

In verbs ending in -cer and -ger:c → ç and g → ge in the nous form.

In verbs ending in -eler and -eter:l → ll and t → tt in all but the nous and vous forms.

In verbs ending in -yer:y → i in all but the nous and vous forms (optional in -ayer verbs).